In the movie, Hardy will play “a man who wants to shed his criminal path but somehow gets mixed up in a bad heist and a killing resulting from a lost and contested pit bull.”

Man’s best friend, am I right?

“Animal Rescue” will be based on a short story by Lehane (“Gone Baby Gone”, “Shutter Island”, and “Mystic River”, to name just three), who also adapted the script. It’s part of Lehane’s “Boston Noir” collection.

Michael R. Roskam (“Bullhead”) is directing and will make his Hollywood debut on the film. Originally set in Boston, the story will be transplanted to New York (aw, man, so I won’t get to hear Tom Hardy do a wicked Boston accent, then?), with production set for sometime in March.

Rapace, of course, is coming off Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus”, and has “Deadman Down”, another crime drama set in New York, but this time with Colin Farrell, in the pipeline.